Upfront HISTORIC PRESERVATION
Board pans plan to move Hostess House proposal to relocate the historic Julia Morgan-designed building at 27 University Ave. to make way for four office towers and a theater drew a harsh reception at the Wednesday morning, Dec. 5, meeting of the Historic Resources Board, where members expressed grave concerns about uprooting what they called a significant part of the city’s history. The proposal, pitched by billionaire developer John Arrillaga, calls for moving the Hostess House — which currently houses the MacArthur Park Restaurant — to a location of the city’s choosing. The latest design plans recommend a site in the nearby El Camino Park for the building, which under the concept would revert to its original role as a community center. Though the City Council had initially considered asking voters to approve in June a ballot measure that would zone the Stanford University-owned land for the massive development, it took a step back Tuesday when it voted to focus first
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Arrillaga
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for the overflow crowd. Some speakers, including those from the theater and business communities, praised the concept and urged the council to go forward with Arrillaga’s plan. But the majority, including two former mayors, took the opposite stance and argued that the council is moving far too fast with the dramatic proposal. Many said that the proposed buildings, at more than 100 feet tall, are out of scale with the area. Others decried what they said was a lack of transparency in the process. As the Weekly reported last week, many of the early discussions of the plan had occurred in private meetings between Arrillaga and staff, leaving behind scant documentation. The developer had also held private meetings with individual council members to pitch his project months before it was first publicized in March of this year. Some took exception to this conduct and with staff’s recommendation to proceed with an advisory measure on the project in June despite the fact that there still hasn’t been a formal application, much less an environmental analysis. Former Mayor Dick Rosenbaum told the council that the project would be a windfall for Stanford University, which he estimated would get about $15 million a year in income from leasing space in the new office tow-
by Gennady Sheyner on a master plan for the 4.3 acres rather than a specific proposal. Moving the Hostess House, however, is still a possibility. The building, which is listed on local, state and national historic registries, was used as a meeting place for World War I veterans. Built at Camp Fremont in Menlo Park in 1918, the building was moved across San Francisquito Creek to its cur-
rent location a year later. Ward Winslow’s book “Palo Alto: Centennial History” recalls Palo Alto’s dedication of the Julia Morgan building on Nov. 11, 1919, as a “gala occasion” with a procession of about 3,000 people marching to the site, led by the Stanford Band, the Base Hospital Band, the Stanford ROTC, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Native Sons of the Golden West and the High School Cadets. The building’s historic signifi-
cance extends beyond Palo Alto. Once purchased by Palo Alto, it became the first municipally operated community center in the nation, frequently hosting dances, classes, plays and other events. In the following decades, the community center housed night classes, an employment bureau and a health center. When the city’s Playgrounds and Community Department was founded in 1929, it set up its offices in the center. According to Winslow’s book, the “crowded and varied program activities soon outgrew the locale,” and in 1933 the city gladly accepted the larger Palo Alto Community Theatre, a gift from Lucie Stern. But even though the building at 27 University Ave. hasn’t served as the center of Palo Alto’s civic life for 80 years, members of the Historic Resources Board emphasized its critical role in the city’s history. Board member Beth Bunnenberg pointed to the building’s listing on the National Historic Register and argued that the building’s location is an important part of its significance. She noted that Julia Morgan herself, who went on to design the palatial San Simeon home of William Randolph Hearst, attended the City Council meeting on the relocation of Hostess House and approved the city’s proposition for the new site. “Palo Alto was thinking outside
ers (Arrillaga, a longtime Stanford benefactor, plans to donate the new buildings to his alma mater), but a terrible deal for the city. He said the city should demand half the revenue from the developments. “This is a project that would’ve been laughed out of the Council Chambers a few years ago,” Rosenbaum told the council. “Yet here it is being considered seriously. If you proceed, there will almost certainly be a referendum, and I believe it will be successful. You will save the city a lot of money if you stop this project tonight.” The council didn’t stop the project, but members agreed to slow things down a bit. Burt recommended continuing with a master plan for the site and expanding the plan to consider other development options. The process for 27 University, Burt said, “has gone sideways for a variety of reasons.” “The best way for us to move toward something that both has a good chance for community support and good design outcomes is to go ahead and invest in this open Palo Alto process,” Burt said. “We come up with a site master plan and we find out whether we have a developer who is interested in proceeding within the framework that we set up.” Councilwoman Karen Holman agreed that it’s premature to bring the project to the voters, given the lack of information about the project and its impacts. But, like Burt, she agreed that the office towers
envisioned by Arrillaga, staff and consultants are far too tall for the site. Though the revised plan that the council saw Monday evening reduced the height of the tallest office tower from 162 feet to 114 feet and the number of stories from 10 to seven, it would still loom far above the city’s height limit of 50 feet for new developments. “This, as currently presented, is just too ambitious,” Holman said. “This is an ambitious community, but this is overambitious, and the process has been upside-down.” Former Mayor Dena Mossar was one of many speakers who shared Holman’s feelings. Mossar argued that a June election would make little sense given that there’s no real project and no environmental-impact report. She also voiced concerns about the city’s lack of transparency. “The master-plan process has relied on secrecy and limited public input,” Mossar said. “It’s pretty hard to trust the process.” Former Councilwoman Emily Renzel said the process “has been corrupted by private meetings and negotiations.” Former Vice Mayor Enid Pearson said the project “has side-stepped every possible publicinput opportunity.” And Fred Balin, a College Terrace resident and advocate for land-use transparency, called the city’s conduct on 27 University “secretive” and “improper.” He also urged the council not to proceed with the advisory vote. “We need more ethics, spine and
‘There’s a great risk with this proposal that the building can be delisted as a historic property due to loss of integrity.’ —Michael Makinen, member, Historic Resources Board
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Veronica Weber
Julia Morgan-designed building occupies site of proposed office complex, theater
MacArthur Park Restaurant is currently located in the “Hostess House,” a historic building designed by Julia Morgan, which in 1919 was the first municipally operated community center in the nation. the box and saying a community center is a good idea,” Bunnenberg said. “They held plays; they held dances; they held meetings. It was a true community center.” While the Arrillaga plan has undergone a number of revisions since its design was first unveiled in September, the location of the proposed office towers has remained constant — the site of Hostess House. On Wednesday, board members said they were astonished and disappointed by the fact that the developer and the city hadn’t considered alternatives that would keep the historic building at its present location. Board Member David Bower said he didn’t understand how the project had gotten this far without the questions of historic compatibility being considered. “There’s not much in Palo Alto that gets more significant than hav-
ing these older buildings in their original place,” Bower said. Board member Michael Makinen worried that moving the building would compromise its status as a nationally recognized historic structure. He said that the criteria for “historic integrity” on the National Register include seven aspects: location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association. The Arrillaga proposal would compromise at least two of these aspects — location and setting — and possibly feeling and association as well. “There’s a great risk with this proposal that the building can be delisted as a historic property due to loss of integrity,” Makinen said. Board member Scott Smithwick said he was “disappointed” by the
responsibility to residents,” Balin said. “Run this process properly.” Councilwoman Gail Price took exception to some of the criticism from the public and said she felt “very uncomfortable with the comments implying some hidden agenda by the staff.” She said there’s still a “long way to go” in the decision-making process for the site and plenty of time for additional negotiations. She also emphasized the significant benefits proposed by Arrillaga, including new roads and pathways around the transit station and a new theater, which would be occupied by the nonprofit TheatreWorks. Under the proposal, Arrillaga would construct a shell for the new performing-arts theater while TheatreWorks would build the interior. The theater company currently has what Managing Director Phil Santora called a “nomadic existence,” shuttling its operations between Lucie Stern Community Center in Palo Alto and the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. The instability that this causes, Santora said, stretches the company’s financial resources and limits the programming it can offer. “The theater proposed as a part of this project is exciting to TheatreWorks not because of its design or because it’s new. It’s exciting because of the possibilities it provides for delivering our mission,” Santora said. Council members and numerous residents, particularly from the business community, also talked about
the project’s potential for re-energizing a centrally located but longneglected site that connects town and gown. Barbara Gross, general manager of the Garden Court Hotel, commended staff for its effort to partner with Arrillaga on developing the site. Jim Rebosio, general manager of the Sheraton Hotel, called the public’s concerns “legitimate” but said he supports the project. “This is such a unique opportunity, and once it’s gone, it’s gone,” Rebosio said. “It’s a great opportunity to bring the mall together with the downtown.” The council agreed to proceed with the master plan for the site around 27 University and to consider other alternatives for the area. The council also specified that the master plan should be informed by the city’s various land-use vision documents, including the Comprehensive Plan and the recently completed Rail Corridor Task Force. Under a proposal recommended by Burt and accepted by all his colleagues, the master plan would include at least two other alternatives compatible with the city’s urbandesign guidelines. Each would also include a theater as an anchor. “I think what happened is that we have ended up reacting to the vision and intention of the prospective applicant — because we don’t have an applicant yet — and we have building designs that are not consistent with the small urban fabric of our downtown,” Burt said. N
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